Scouting Report: Miles Boykin – 2015 Wide Receiver

Tweener is a word used often to describe prospects that are being dissected before the NFL Draft. With college football recruiting it’s a little different. You can project more because these players are all basically just kids and it’s hard to tell how much bigger and faster they can become over the next four or five years.

Miles Boykin is one of those prospects you have to project to guess how he’ll develop. Right now he’s a receiver for Providence Catholic, but he may grow into a tight end in college when all is said and done.

Height: 6’5″

Weight: 212

Athletic ability/measurables

Boykin’s obvious advantage is his size and the fact that he is very coordinated despite his size. He runs fairly well, but I’m not sure he’s quick enough to gain separation at the next level based on what I saw on tape. At the Nike camp in Chicago he did look significantly quicker though.

Skills/technique

He does a great job using his body to gain advantage over cornerbacks. He’s much bigger than them and he plays bigger. It’s also evident with him as a blocker out there where he is a willing blocker and could potentially be dominant against lighter defensive backs.

He is a huge threat in the red zone and would be a tough match up for any defender. Any type of jump ball situation, Boykin has a huge advantage. He really did a nice job against press coverage. He’s a natural hands catcher as well, so he’s able to make the tough catches that are above the defenders head where only he has a chance to get the ball.

While he can win with his body and using it to shield defenders, he’s just not sudden enough in my opinion to gain separation on a lot of routes. So while he is a big time red zone target, quarterbacks may be forced to make very tight throws if he’s matched up against corners in college.

Scheme fit

I think Boykin’s best chance to succeed on a regular basis is as a Joker/move tight end where he is matched up against linebackers and safeties. I think he can win those athletic battles.

Potential

This all depends on if Boykin can grow into that hybrid tight end that so many teams covet. If he doesn’t, he might just be another big, yet slow, wide receiver because I’m not sure he’ll have the quickness to separate versus elite corners. If he does put on that weight, I think he has the opportunity to be as good as any of the other tight ends in this recruiting class.

Jamie Uyeyama was a way too small defensive tackle at Idaho State University and a more appropriately sized rush end at Simon Fraser University. He was a coach at the college and high school level and is the son of Ron Uyeyama, a member of the Delta Sports Hall of Fame and high school football coach for over 30 years (hence the site name, Son of a Coach). Jamie is also the former Sr. Editor, Digital Content and News for theScore.com.